Motor deficits are a phenotype observed in children with autism. When provided with motor intervention, the children progress across different developmental domains. The problem is teachers in self-contained classrooms for nonverbal children with autism faced obstacles that needed to be overcome in implementing a motor intervention plan in public…

This dissertation aimed to investigate the impact of technology use in preschool classrooms on student motor skill development. The study involved analyzing the pass/fail Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) scores of students and whether their preschool classroom used technology or not. A chi-square test was performed on two variables for…

Physical Education (PE) can be considered a black box when the interactions between the teacher and the students are unknown. PE as the black box has been embedded in the process-product paradigm. PE teachers can be critical role models for fostering students' actual motor competence (AMC) because students can learn from what they observe from…

Infancy is a period of significant change for both the brain and behavior. During the first two years of life, the brain experiences an explosion of synaptic connections and myelination, alongside rapid development in motor, linguistic, and social behavioral abilities. Understanding the relationship between brain development and behavioral…

Background: Autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy are prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders. Autistic individuals or individuals with cerebral palsy often struggle with sensory processing that further impacts movement execution. Immersive virtual reality (VR) is a promising assessment and intervention modality to promote motor learning in…

Multiple domains develop simultaneously and interact throughout infancy and early childhood. Although relationships between motor and language skills have been examined cross-sectionally during the first three years of life, little is known regarding the individual factors that influence the development of these domains as well as the relationship…

This dissertation describes a program of research encompassing three studies that focused on examining the effects of enhanced expectancies and perceptions of success on motor learning. OPTIMAL theory (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016) proposes that practice manipulations that enhance a learner's expectations for future successful outcomes lead to…

Individuals with orthopedic impairments often have trouble with range of motion and may experience barriers in participating in physical activities with peers. This qualitative study explores school site personnel's overall perceptions using the Mobility Opportunities via Experience (MOVE) program among individuals with orthopedic impairments in…

Learning prepositions is very important for students with an intellectual disability to engage in functional communication behaviors. In addition, it is important for the students with intellectual disability to engage in physical activity at school because they spend the majority of their waking hours during weekdays at school. One way to…

Attitudes and values are considered an important component of learning in higher education, but natural resources and environmental education programs typically emphasize cognitive gains in the design of instructional activities and subsequent assessments. This research suggests that greater consideration of affective learning outcomes should be…

Young children with HCP experience difficulties performing age-appropriate daily activities such as self-care and play. Research in neuroplasticity has shown that intensive, task-specific training in early development is ideal to maximize functioning in children with HCP. The aim of this study was to analyze the feasibility of a new manualized…

It is widely accepted that fundamental motor skills (FMS) are considered the building blocks for successful participation in sports and physical activity for children, adolescents, and adults (Haywood & Getchell, 2014), and that individuals must be able to master these skill patterns before they can engage in more complex movement patterns,…

As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) increases, it is important for practitioners to continue to improve evidence-based practices (EBP) for the treatment of ASD symptoms (i.e., impairments in social communication and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). It is estimated that…

The adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) has brought with it a need for classroom assessments that measure students' ability to make sense of, explain, and use science, with many of the performance expectations asking students to apply scientific principles and evidence to produce an explanation. But creating coherent written…

The major purpose of this study was to investigate whether successful practice trials in throwing would mediate the relationship between perceived throwing competence and skill improvement in throwing among 1 st graders in physical education. A correlational research design was utilized to examine the mediating relationships among variables.…